Professional negligence from an accountant can cause financial harm and it is important to make negligence claims if you feel you have been a victim.

As a client you expect the highest standards from your accountant because they are looking after your finances and any error could cause serious cashflow problems and even ruin reputations – to name just two.

There are four main reasons why damages can be claimed against an accountant. These are:

• Evidence of the accountant having a legally binding duty of care for the claimant must be shown. This is normally the easiest point to establish.
• The accountant must have fallen far enough below the reasonable standard of competence to be deemed negligent towards their client. Suitable evidence must also be shown that the no other accountant would have acted in a similar way.
• The claimant must be able to prove to an accurate enough extent the level of financial loss incurred.
• It must be proved that the loss was a direct result of the negligent behaviour in order to make accountants negligence claims.